Salem’s Turney stifles Tigers

Pangburn cemented its spot in this week’s 2A North Regional tournament with a 14-4 win over Quitman on Thursday in the 2-2A district tournament held at Pangburn City Park.

But, on Friday the Tigers ran into Salem right-handed pitcher John Turney, who tossed a one-hitter while striking out 12 batters as the Greyhounds rolled over Pangburn 6-0 in the semifinals.

Will Gilbert/Sports Editor

Pangburn cemented its spot in this week’s 2A North Regional tournament with a 14-4 win over Quitman on Thursday in the 2-2A district tournament held at Pangburn City Park.
But, on Friday the Tigers ran into Salem right-handed pitcher John Turney, who tossed a one-hitter while striking out 12 batters as the Greyhounds rolled over Pangburn 6-0 in the semifinals.
The fourth-seeded Tigers are set to play District 3 champion Walnut Ridge on Friday at 2:30 p.m. in the regional at Marked Tree. Salem beat White County Central in Saturday’s District 2 championship game and will face East Poinsett County on Friday at 12 p.m.
In Friday’s loss to Salem, Pangburn went down in order in the top of the first, including one by strikeout, while Chase Hopkins lined out to first base and Logan Gray lined out to third base.
Hopkins, Pangburn’s starting pitcher, responded by retiring the Greyhounds in order in the bottom half, including a groundout to Hunter Poe at second, fly-out to Austin Smith in center field and a strikeout.
In the top of the second, Turney worked around a one-out double by Dylan Myers, who plugged the right center gap but Myers was caught stealing third and Turney struck out the next batter.
Salem scored an unearned run in the bottom of the second as Kyndal Smith drew a two-out walk, stole second and scored when Zach Gilbreath’s hard grounder to the left side was mishandled. Gilbreath moved into scoring position on a wild pitch but was stranded when Hopkins notched a strikeout.
Turney retired the Tigers in order in the third, including two more strikeouts and Salem added a run in the bottom half as Turney reached on a two-out error, swiped second and scored when Cody Barnett slammed an RBI single to right field. Poe made a play up the middle from his second base position, ending the third frame with Salem leading 2-0.
Turney fanned two more while retiring the Tigers in order in the fourth. Hopkins pitched out of trouble in the bottom half as the Greyhounds loaded the bases with two outs before Hopkins induced Seth Travelstead into a groundout to Mac Myers at first base.
Turney struck out two in the top of the fifth while working around a two-out walk issued to Mac Myers. In the bottom half, Hopkins retired the first two batters, including one by strikeout before Casey York, Jesse James and Smith reached on three consecutive singles.
With the bases loaded, Hopkins used a high heater for a strikeout, leaving the bases loaded for the second straight inning.
Poe worked a one-out walk in the sixth but Turney fanned the next two batters, using a nasty curveball to keep Pangburn off-balance at the plate. In the bottom of the sixth, Salem erupted with four runs on three hits, starting when Justus Sparks walked and Dillon Turner looped a single over shortstop.
After Travelstead was plunked to load the bases, Turney lifted a pop-up to shallow right field, where Poe made the catch but Sparks successfully tagged up and scored, pushing the Greyhounds’ lead to 3-0.
Barnett followed with a squeeze bunt that scored Turner then York stroked an RBI double past third base and into left field, scoring Travelstead for a 5-0 lead. James added an RBI single to right field that plated York as the Greyhounds built a 6-0 lead before Hopkins escaped further damage with a strikeout.
Turney struck out the first batter he faced in the seventh then retired Alec Bourgeois on a foul ball down the left field line, where Smith made a running catch near the fence. Turney retired Dylan Myers on a grounder back to the mound for the final out as Salem eliminated Pangburn, 6-0.